Highland Park Village — ties Milan
Fashion's Night Out at Highland Park Village. Photo credit: Michelle London-Bell for the Examiner.
By Floriane Leger
Thursday, Sept. 6, was Fashion’s Night Out. Last year, I spent it in Milan – Italy. This year, I am in Dallas, and I was more than excited to see how this event would happen in my new cowboy-spirited hometown!
Where should I go? The choices were numerous, and I don’t know the city well enough (I have not been to the city center yet!) to decide what is THE place to be.
Following some friends’ advice, I chose Highland Park Village.
First impression: The place looked like a movie! Second impression: Everyone was so dressed up!
In Milan the shops are becoming these extravagant party places where you want to be seen. But at Highland Park Village, the crowd was creating the show!
Next to me, inside the Louboutin store, stood a man dressed all in black with a golden embroidered cape and an extravagant hairstyle. All the girls wore amazingly high heels that made me wonder how they were able to walk. Everyone looked as if it had taken them five hours to get ready, and I felt more underdressed than ever in the black jeans, peplum top and moccasins I’d worn to class that day.
Arriving as an exchange student from Europe this fall, I must admit I found SMU fashion somewhat, well, dull. But this display tonight was something I was not expecting!
So I guess I must say that in the “fashion wars,” my old and new hometowns are tied: Dallas, 1 – Milan, 1. Not so bad, right?
Jimmy Choo lights up the runway at Highland Park Village
Firefighters carry the models at Jimmy Choo. Photo: Daniella Lopez.
By Daniella Lopez
Fashionistas all over the world slipped on their stilettos for a night on the town during the fourth annual Fashion’s Night Out Sept. 6. FNO was created by Anna Wintour in 2009 to encourage shoppers to support the fashion industry during tough economic times.
I chose to spend my night at the luxurious Highland Park Village. The night began with gratis champagne and quiche at the home of the red sole, Louboutin. A long line of eager fashionistas, decked out in designer from head to toe, patiently waited for a tarot card reading in the boutique, which was bathed in the brand’s trademark red light.
My next stop was the fashion show right outside the Escada shop. A pair of flaming Jimmy Choos literally set the runway on fire as chiseled firemen effortlessly carried models down the catwalk to show off the fabulous footwear. Carolina Herrera gracefully ended the show with a red gown fit for a queen.
My next stop: Akris to satisfy my sweet tooth. Fortified by chocolate, I then made my way through the shopping village, shimmering in lights, to my favorite place, Chanel, where makeup artists applied patrons’ pick of fall lipstick shades.
I had my photo snapped outside 4510 and finished the evening at Stella McCartney. The night was truly a fashion wonderland: The fabulous people, out-of-this-world atmosphere, and glamorous fashion were just as big as Texas.
Dancing the night away at Tootsies
Author Lara Mirgorod and Greyson Gingery at Tootsies.
By Lara Mirgorod
It is that time of year again! With stores in over 500 cities nationwide taking part, Fashion’s Night Out rang in its fourth annual celebration, exploding with stylish soirees that we did not want to miss.
The fashionistas of the Metroplex were out and about, enjoying the hottest boutiques and shopping centers as they entertained with bubbly, fashion shows and other trendy festivities.
Ladies danced from one store to the next, and many landed in Tootsies, the Preston Center boutique. Women stepped in –wearing Christian Loubatin and toting Chanel bags — and ordered Tootsies’ signature cocktails at the bar.
Reps from Clishade, a makeup brand that launched just a month ago, pampered shoppers with makeovers. And a DJ booth was planted upstairs where everyone ( well not everyone) danced the night away.
Those who did not leave with big Tootsies’ shopping bags walked away with gift bags instead.
Models strut their stuff at NorthPark
By
More than 40 models strutted down a runway at NorthPark Center Sept. 5, as onlookers from every angle “oohed and aahed” at the glamorous fall trends.
Live music and DJs amped the fashion-fanatic crowd, and photographers, bulbs flashing, captured dozens of perfectly posed pictures from the standing-room-only crowd.
This was Fashion’s Night Out, a celebration of fashion and fun that takes place in major cities around the world. In Dallas, shopping centers and boutiques held fashion shows, promotions and sales.
More than 75 stores participated at NorthPark Center, where three runway shows took place in the NorthCourt. Elsewhere in the mall, stores had sales and offered style advice and makeovers. Some, like Barney’s New York, even served patrons champagne.
This is the third year Dallas has hosted FNO events. In Texas, Houston and Austin also celebrated FNO, as did fashion capitals around the world – from New York to London to Paris to Milan.
Local radio personality and NorthPark FNO host Victoria Snee said the event is a wonderful time to celebrate fashion and to see fall trends. “I think having fashion shows gets everyone’s energy levels up and is an exciting way to make everyone want to go out and shop,” she said.
Karley Osborn, a journalist covering the events at NorthPark for a local fashion publication, said that while Dallas is developing as a fashion capital, it still can’t compete with a fashion giant like New York.
“But on nights like tonight,” she said, “we’re one step closer.”
http://www.dallassouthnews.org/2012/09/09/dallas-struts-its-stuff-at-fashions-night-out/
- Runway models strut their stuff during Fashion’s NIght Out at NorthPark Center.